James Jones (basketball, born 1964)
American college basketball coach (born 1964)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
James Fitzgerald Jones[1] (born February 20, 1964) is an American men's college basketball coach who is the head coach at Yale University.
Jones in 2025 | |
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Yale |
| Conference | Ivy League |
| Record | 442–326 (.576) |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | February 20, 1964 Long Island, New York, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1982–1986 | Albany |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1990–1995 | Albany (assistant) |
| 1995–1997 | Yale (assistant) |
| 1997–1999 | Ohio (assistant) |
| 1999–present | Yale |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 442–326 (.576) |
| Tournaments | 2–5 (NCAA Division I) 1–3 (NIT) 4–2 (CIT) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 8 Ivy League regular season (2002, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2023, 2025, 2026) 4 Ivy League tournament (2019, 2022, 2024, 2025) | |
| Awards | |
| Hugh Durham Award (2016) Ben Jobe Award (2019) 4× Ivy League Coach of the Year (2015, 2016, 2020, 2023) | |
Born on Long Island, Jones played college basketball at SUNY Albany and worked as a sales executive for NCR Corporation before beginning his coaching career.[2] Jones succeeded Dick Kuchen as the 22nd men's basketball head coach of Yale University on April 27, 1999.[3] On March 17, 2016, Jones and the Bulldogs upset the fifth-seeded Baylor University Bears in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.[4] On March 22, 2024, Jones and the Bulldogs upset the fourth-seeded Auburn University Tigers in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.
Five of Jones' assistants have gone on to become head coaches: Ted Hotaling (University of New Haven), Rob Senderoff (Kent State University), Isaiah Cavaco (Oberlin College), Mark Sembrowich (Academy of Art University), and Mark Gilbride (Clarkson University).[5]
Jones was inducted into New England Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015, is a four-time Ivy League Coach of the Year (2015, 2016, 2020 and 2023), and has been named the NABC District 13 Coach of the Year three times.[6]
His brother, Joe Jones, is the current men's basketball head coach at Boston University and was previously the men's basketball head coach at Columbia University.
Head coaching record
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yale Bulldogs (Ivy League) (1999–present) | |||||||||
| 1999–00 | Yale | 7–20 | 5–9 | 5th | |||||
| 2000–01 | Yale | 10–17 | 7–7 | 4th | |||||
| 2001–02 | Yale | 21–11 | 11–3 | T–1st | NIT Second Round | ||||
| 2002–03 | Yale | 14–13 | 8–6 | 4th | |||||
| 2003–04 | Yale | 12–15 | 7–7 | 4th | |||||
| 2004–05 | Yale | 11–16 | 7–7 | 3rd | |||||
| 2005–06 | Yale | 15–14 | 7–7 | 4th | |||||
| 2006–07 | Yale | 14–13 | 10–4 | 2nd | |||||
| 2007–08 | Yale | 13–15 | 7–7 | 4th | |||||
| 2008–09 | Yale | 13–15 | 8–6 | 2nd | |||||
| 2009–10 | Yale | 12–19 | 6–8 | 4th | |||||
| 2010–11 | Yale | 15–13 | 8–6 | 3rd | |||||
| 2011–12 | Yale | 19–10 | 9–5 | 4th | CIT First Round | ||||
| 2012–13 | Yale | 14–17 | 8–6 | 3rd | |||||
| 2013–14 | Yale | 19–14 | 9–5 | 2nd | CIT Runner-Up | ||||
| 2014–15 | Yale | 22–10 | 11–3 | T–1st | |||||
| 2015–16 | Yale | 23–7 | 13–1 | 1st | NCAA Division I Round of 32 | ||||
| 2016–17 | Yale | 18–11 | 9–5 | 3rd | |||||
| 2017–18 | Yale | 16–15 | 9–5 | 3rd | |||||
| 2018–19 | Yale | 22–8 | 10–4 | T–1st | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
| 2019–20 | Yale | 23–7 | 11–3 | 1st | Postseason cancelled due to COVID-19 | ||||
| 2020–21 | Yale[a] | ||||||||
| 2021–22 | Yale | 19–12 | 11–3 | 2nd | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
| 2022–23 | Yale | 21–9 | 10–4 | T–1st | NIT First Round | ||||
| 2023–24 | Yale | 23–10 | 11–3 | 2nd | NCAA Division I Round of 32 | ||||
| 2024–25 | Yale | 22–8 | 13–1 | 1st | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
| 2025–26 | Yale | 24–7 | 11–3 | 1st | NIT First Round | ||||
| 2026–27 | Yale | 0–0 | 0–0 | ||||||
| Yale: | 442–326 (.576) | 236–128 (.648) | |||||||
| Total: | 442–326 (.576) | ||||||||
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National champion
Postseason invitational champion
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